THE PECULIAR NOTION THAT ONLY OUR ELECTIONS MATTER:

After Bush: How to repair US alliances: Bush's exit won't suddenly fix things. Both sides need to step up. (Michael Fullilove, November 4, 2008, CS Monitor)

US foreign policy has undergone a welcome shift during Bush's second term away from unilateralism and ideology and toward multilateralism and pragmatism. There can be no going back for his successor. Hopefully, McCain understands this fact as well as Obama plainly does.

Over the course of the Bush presidency, leftists and other opponents of our policy have been replaced by openly pro-American leaders in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Vatican, India, etc. Increasing multilateralism has been a function of this new conservative leadership. Now, it is the case that a conservative abroad is generally to the Left of an American Democrat, so there's no reason a President Obama couldn't work with these folks--and the incoming Cameron government in Britain--but they'd be likely to push him to be even more like W on issues like Iran, trade, and the like than he has expressed a desire to be during the campaign.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 3, 2008 2:19 PM